MzTeachuh is a daily blog providing educational links for professional development, timely articles for special needs, ed tech and STEM, as well as interesting and amusing posts in the Fine Arts and the Humanities.

Tell Santa he can take the freeway down.

" Run, Run Rudolph" Chuck Berry

Sing along!

Out of all the reindeers you know you're the mastermind
Run, run Rudolph, Randalph ain't too far behind
Run, run Rudolph, Santa's got to make it to town
Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down
Run, run Rudolph 'cause I'm reeling like a merry-go-round

Said Santa to a boy child "What have you been longing for? "All I
want for Christmas is a Rock and Roll electric guitar? And then
away went Rudolph a whizzing like a shooting star
Run, run Rudolph, Santa's got to make it to town, come on
Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down
Run, run Rudolph, reeling like a merry-go-round

Said Santa to a girl child "What would please you most to get?"A
little baby doll that can cry, sleep, and wet And then away went
Rudolph a whizzing like a Saber jet
Run, run Rudolph, Santa's got to make it to town
Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down
Run, run Rudolph 'cause I'm reeling like a merry-go-round

This
is such a timeless story for kids and adults. The choice of music by
the creators of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' captures the precious
elements of melancholy, winter beauty and childhood insight involved
with Christmas. I appreciate that Schulz chose to include the Gospel of
Luke in the midst of burgeoning secularism. Happy to hear it year after
year. Vince Guaraldi's original compositions capture the joy of
childhood with such poignancy. My students always express delight when I
play this album the weeks before the winter break--even the big, tough
highschoolers.

Being an incurable teacher, here is background for the traditional carols. Just for fun.

Good ole Charlie Brown chooses a scrawny little tree--he always did have a big, empathetic heart.

This
is a traditional, German song which means O Christmas Tree. The custom
of Christmas trees started in Germany, and became popular in Great
Britain and the US when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert married.
Albert, being German, brought the tree custom with him.

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) was actually written on a hot July day by singer Mel Torme.

a charlie brown christmas-the christmas song

Schroeder,
Charlie Brown's friend, loves to play Beethoven, but is badgered by
Lucy, who has a crush on him, to play 'Jingle Bells.' The irony is that
Beethoven composed 'Fur Elise' for a girl that didn't return the
attention, but in this story Schroeder does not return Lucy's attention.
And that 'Jingle Bells' was written in 1857 for the holiday of
Thanksgiving by an American.

I don't know how many BSPs I have written, probably an average of five a year for fifteen years. The

This is a pretty way to picture it.

effectiveness of the BSP lays mostly on the adults involved and actually
less on the students. Here are very general guidelines beginning with
the most complicated student needs.

1. My experience in Special Education included directing a Non-Public School
(that's a separate facility for kids with extreme behavior problems due
to behavior dysfunctions or emotional disturbance who have been
expelled from their home public school.) At the small school I directed,
we had students who had been expelled from the larger non-public
schools. It follows that the Behavior Support Plans added to the IEPs
(Individualized Educational Programs) for these students were written
with input from medical doctors, educational psychologists, counselors,
and frequently psychiatrists as well as District personnel and myself as
the case carrier.

These were precision directives, much like a medical prescription or a
protocol for physical therapy. There was nothing haphazard about this.
With a carefully administrated system of positive reinforcement,
interesting curriculum, and above all, parent buy-in, we saw progress.
This was the elite level of teaching. Only the few, the proud and the
thoroughly trained can maintain.

2. Behavior Support Plans are also written for students in other areas
of Special Education. Many students on a public school are classified as
Moderately Handicapped, and mostly learn in one classroom
separate from general education. The handicaps are not the same, and
could include OHI (Other Health Impaired), autistic, SLD (Specific
Learning Disability) or a variety of disabilities identified as Moderate
by special testing done by the District psychologist. In our state, for
many years this was called Special Day Class requiring more specialized
instruction for the students to succeed. There are separate Special Day
Classes for Emotional Disturbed students because the regimen required
is differently structured than other classes. The BSPs for these
students are similar to the ones in a non-public school, addressing
specific behaviors that can be modified by positive intervention.

Finger pointing is not considereda positive support.

In a typical SDC (Special Day Class) the students could mainstream for a
class or two, lunch and breaks. If a student in such a class exhibits
disruptive behavior out of the norm, then a BSP will be added to the
existing IEP. The Special Education teacher schedules an addendum IEP
meeting to discuss the Behavior Support Plan, and following discussion
and collaboration from parents, the teaching team, administration and
District Psychologist, the BSP is added to the IEP. Generally, the BSP
includes the homeroom teacher (case carrier) noting improvement, and a
tangible reward will be offered. The consequences for inappropriate
behavior are noted in the BSP, can be mild and administered in the
classroom unless it has a larger scope and needs a school consequence
from an administrator. If all the adults are consistent, this works
well.

3. A student identified as Mildly Handicapped may also need a
BSP. Students in this category may have only one class taught by a
Special Education teacher, mainstreaming the remainder of the day. If a
student exhibits behavior that merits certain discipline interventions
from administration, then the Special Education teacher schedules an
addendum IEP meeting, prepares a BSP to support the student to begin
showing positive improvement. The whole IEP team includes the student,
the parents, all teachers, administration and District
Psychologist. This is the team that will help the student replace the
inappropriate behavior with appropriate behavior. Again, the BSP is only
as effective as the adults administering it. And this is a challenge.

IEP meetings are really, really important.

4. Most Districts have a district level expert (maybe called Behavior Analyst or Positive Behavior Intervention Specialist)
who helps administer a program such as this when the students are
having a tougher time. Or when the Special Education teacher bothers to
ask for help. I have found these professionals to be supremely helpful
and awesome experts. They may do a student study called a Functional
Behavior Analysis that takes the guesswork out of why the student is
behaving this way and what can be done to help. Kids are complicated and
may need medical, psychiatric evaluation or more simple interventions
like counseling. This input is crucial.

If you are reading this, you are an educator, a parent, or a concerned
friend. Maybe you're the student. If you have a concern, check with a
professional more trained than yourself to answer questions about your
child or student's behavior.

I would also check out (and this advice is for teachers, too) to see how
organized the school site is--are the rules consistent? Is the work
appropriate for your child's developmental stage? (For example, is there
recess? Does your child or class have creative opportunities? Are
bullies under control? Is there enough supervision?) Teachers and
administrators need to constantly self-evaluate the soundness of a
school's program--the entire school. When kids' needs are met, there is
less disruptive behavior.

But sometimes there are other forces in a child's experience. That's
when a parent or teacher checks out what a psychologist or doctor has to
say.

3. What to Do When Challenging Behavior Persists

4. Write Your Own Behavior Plan

This
last link is for teachers. Don't forget to check with families, other
teachers, administration, and/or a Special Education teacher if a
student it giving you a tough time. Maybe you don't know the whole
story!

About Me

Melanie Link Taylor is an educator and edu blogger in Southern California, credentialed in both General Education and Special Education. She teaches English Literature, Language and Composition to Grades 7-12 at Victor Valley Christian School in Victorville, California.
Melanie guest blogs on educational sites, and is an Edutopia facilitator, a commentor on BAM Radio, member of ISTE, and a Teach100 mentor.
She received her B.A. in English, and minor in Art, from Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles, and her M.A. in Special Education from Chapman University.
She also cultivates the Melanie Link Taylor Teaching Garden and Wildlife Habitat in Southern California.